Selling your home is a big step in your financial life and you most likely want to sell it within a reasonable amount of time. You might think that you know what your home is worth and you want to get as much of your equity as possible. This is completely understandable. When you blindly rely on a real estate professional to tell you what your home is worth, you could potentially be making a big mistake. I’m a Realtor® and I do my best to inform my customers based on their needs and goals but you need to be aware of the dangers of overpricing your home and how it could potentially affect the sale and your bottom line.

Most home Sellers are unaware of the dangers of overpricing a house. When you list your property for more than it is worth, there is a good chance that your home will not sell. The listing will sit and meanwhile you are required to keep the home in good showing condition and be flexible for viewing appointments. This can be daunting month after month. The most important factor for home Buyers is price regardless of what anyone else tells you. They do want the home to be beautiful and functional, but they also want to be able to afford the mortgage payment. There are several things you as the Seller can do to help indicate your real market value at the time you plan to list it for sale on the market. The responsibility doesn’t always fall upon the Realtor’s shoulders even though they are the professional and have access to and knowledge of sales in your area.

The idea that a real estate agent might take on a listing that they know they cannot sell could be confusing. While it may not make sense, some real estate agents do this on a regular basis. The main reason that this strategy is commonly used is that real estate agents want exposure for himself and/or their broker. When they put their sign in your yard, they are putting a picture of their face, their phone number, and their website address out there. All of your neighbors will see the sign and they will get familiar to that real estate agent (branding). After a certain amount time, it will become ingrained in their minds and they could potentially call that real estate agent when they need to sell their home. Getting a listing is essentially free advertising for the real estate agent. You may notice in your own community some signs that have been lingering around much longer than the seller may like.

When interviewing Realtors® be sure to thoughtfully consider factors other than price; don’t just choose the agent willing to list the home for highest amount. Selling a home can be an emotional experience and once you are sold on listing the home for the highest price you might think all other agents you have interviewed are willing to “give the home away”. This is most often not the case at all. Consider the marketing power and dollars at work for you. Is the broker small and local OR national with greater marketing reach? Is their personality one that you can work with for weeks or months to come? How do they find their Buyers? What is their marketing plan and sales experience? Further, you may not want an agent with many listings… If they have 15 listings or more how will they ever be able to give you the attention your home will need? Indeed something to consider. Ultimately, look at the overall marketing plan and how your agent will position the home to get you the highest and best price.

In the case of custom homes and unique properties where there might not be available comparable sales, I like suggest to homeowners that paying for an appraisal by a third party would be a wise investment. Investing a few hundred dollars could ultimately save you thousands; I often reimburse the Seller at closing for this expense. Appraisals are a subjective process however learning more about an appropriate range is wise in helping you gain the knowledge to put pricing aside and to focus on hiring the best real estate professional to market and sell your home. I also find it helpful to take a few hours one weekend to visit Open Houses that are in your community and like your own. Getting to know the competition first hand can quickly give you perspective on how your home will appear to Buyers.

In most cases, you should try to stay in line with the other home prices in the neighborhood. Otherwise, you may be sitting on your real estate listing for much longer than you want and it may cost you even more in the end.

Remember, if you sell high you will buy high. If you sell low you will buy low. If you don’t buy right away, well, then just save that cash or reinvest it in a rental property. Now is a great time to buy!

I’ve come across this light-hearted video with George Seagal that can be found on NeilSwartz.net about how difficult it can be for a Seller to hear bad news about the value of their home.  Click here to view What Everyone Really Thinks During The Listing Presentation.

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